Evaluating legitimacy and marginalization: Campus policing in the State of Rhode Island

Abstract

The identity and legitimacy of campus police officers is often difficult to define, largely due to their obvious connection to the educational environment. With the lack of research on campus police in general, and their legitimacy as a law enforcement entity in specific, how these officers perceive themselves and, just as importantly, how they believe others perceive them, becomes questionable and may have a distinct impact on their performance of duties and their interactions with the campus community and other law enforcement personnel. This study considers self-perceived levels of legitimacy of campus police officers employed at four statutorily defined campus police departments in the State of Rhode Island from a review of various issues of perceptual self-worth, their effects on officer morale, and their impact on levels of service to the campus community. Findings indicate that while they are, indeed, granted legislative police authority that is comparable to their more public counterparts, campus law enforcement officers perceive a lack of legitimization and support from their community; have high levels of self-perceived feelings of marginalization; and face an ever uphill battle in their efforts to obtain the same levels of legitimacy as their traditional counterparts.

Keywords

• campus police
• police legitimacy
• perception
• trust and confidence
• job satisfaction
• employee attitudes